Public Insight Network wants to connect with conservative voters

By |August 19, 2011

The Public Insight Network, a reporting tool from American Public Media that invites audience members to volunteer as sources, wants to increase the number of conservative voices in its database of some 100,000 names. So Michael Caputo, a Minnesota Public Radio analyst with PIN, wrote to the right-leaning Powerline blog for help surveying its readers. “We recognize the need to have more Republican and/or conservative citizens in this network, especially with the GOP nomination up for grabs,” Caputo writes. “So we are making a specific plea for you to become part of this network and help inform what the media sees as news. We need conservatives from around the U.S., since our news organizations come from all parts of the country. We have an easy way to do this. The Public Insight Network has a short survey on the Republican race for the presidency. It’s aimed at putting voters’ stories first (rather than candidates’) and helping reporters understand more about what’s motivating and inspiring conservative voters this year.”

The first online comment: “Yep same story as before. Liberal news organizations always ‘reaching out’ to understand the conservative point of view so they can get a better understanding of how to distort it and create a negative tide within the conservative wing.”

And more than 120 people came into the network with strong stories about what has lead them to conservatism.

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